My friend had a point.
It wasn’t often you saw a bloody cross posted on a main road. I had never seen anything like it. It was 1989 and I was spending my first December
away from home. Victoria was a beautiful
city and I was enjoying watching it dress up for Christmas. Lights, banners and ornaments were bursting
from shop windows and sidewalk spaces. Tinsel,
ribbons and lights were everywhere; why did I care about one strange cross on someone’s
lawn? “Fine,” I sighed. “But let’s go home that way if we can.”
I made it back to the
same spot a week later to ensure I had seen what I remembered. I was right; it was a Christmas display unlike
any I had seen. To call it ugly might be
unfair: solemn, stark and disturbing, but not ugly. The cross was large and the wood aged by the
island’s constant winter rain. I
remember the cross being draped in a white banner and red paint smudges where
Jesus hands and feet would have been.
There was a white flood light at its base which caught the words, “And
still He came.” It was barren, simple
and disconcerting.
I lived in Victoria for ten years and every Christmas I went
out of my way to view that display. It
appeared at the end of November. I
wondered if the owner of the house on Shelbourne was tempted to scrap that
cross and put up a Christmas tree instead.
“Leave the cross for Easter and decorate a tree buddy,” I thought. But
every year, the cross would faithfully appear and to be honest, it brought a
secret thrill to my soul. I was unable
to articulate it at the time, but I knew I was witnessing a form of
rebellion. This hideous cross was cramping
Christmas’ style. Something was
screaming and I could not hear it clearly.
At this point in my story you need to know I love Christmas
trees. I do not love plastic trees. If you have an artificial tree I can still
love you, but while you are not looking I will lay hands on your tree and pray
that next year your tree will live. I am
not put off by you telling me you hate pine needles in your carpet. It means nothing to me that the plastic tree
is the best thing that happened to your Christmas. I don’t care if it was $3000 and you got it
for $18 at a garage sale. I am not fazed
by the fact that you are allergic to trees and they make you sneeze. I will still sit by your tree and agree with
it in prayer, “Dear Jesus, next year make this tree a real boy.”
I tell you this darling friend, so that you are able to
understand what I am going to say next. Would you walk with me a moment dear
heart? Could we use the language of
pictures, memory and experience to allow the Lord to prepare our hearts for
Christmas?
I have many precious Christmas memories. I was given the gift of a childhood by my
parents and I enjoy Christmas. But as I get older, I notice a battle brewing
between the Christmas tree and the Cross. I noticed the battle 24 years ago, when my
friend on Shelbourne placed that unattractive cross on his front lawn. He defiantly decorated it with red smudges
and the words, “And still He came.”
Christmas can be difficult.
When the year draws to a close, the world of media starts it full on assault
on our sanity. The airwaves scream the
message that a perfect Christmas is available for a price. Satellites bombard the planet with messages
of sales and sequins, trinkets and tinsel that will usher in great happiness
and joy. Decorate your Christmas tree,
put presents under it, adorn your house with lights and the sickening loneliness
of the season will disappear. Worship at
the altar of perfection and strive to belong to a class of happy folk. Make the most perfectly, perfect Christmas
tree and all will be well.
The problem is the perfect Christmas tree doesn’t have room
for me and many of the people I know. My
friends, who love Jesus daily with their weaknesses, don’t have lives that make
perfect Christmas possible. One has a
mother who is a raging alcoholic, while the other struggles daily with a
mentally ill brother. One of my teachers
is grieving the loss of her husband while another is in a season of such
tempest, she fights hourly to hold on to faith.
Many of them are working hard to restore shattered relationships and set
a good example for their children. Grace, addiction, despair, unanswered prayer, hope, intercession, these are the words
that decorate my community. Thank
heaven, thank Jesus, there is a tree for the likes of us to gather around and worship at this
Christmas season.
Our Christmas tree is the cross. Those who love Jesus and are suffering during
this Christmas season are welcome underneath this tree. Fear not, your brokenness will not diminish its
glow. Your shameful relative has a place
in the very heart of Him who bled and died here. The God of this tree is big enough to deal
with your anxiety and pain. We worship
here because Jesus decided to leave the glory of heaven and to condescend to
become Emmanuel, God with us. He came
knowing we would fail. He came knowing
that you would despair. He came because
He loves you. He came knowing that He
would be betrayed. He came knowing that
He would die a gruesome death. He came
knowing….and still He came……
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:8-14
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:8-14
